Iinteresting facts & figures about bingo

The very first known form of bingo originated in Italy around 1530

• Bingo was very popular in France in the late 1700s. It was known as Le Lotto.

• In Belgium Bingo is so popular it received the second largest number of votes to be named as the national pastime.

• In New Zealand and Australia bingo is called Housie.

• The form of bingo we all know and love today originated in the US where players would place beans on their numbers and shout Beano when they marked off a line!

• The name Bingo was an accident – a player in Argentina shouted it by accident (instead of Beano)

• The game was properly established by an American toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, who noticed someone shouting Bingo.

• Edwin Lowe organised the biggest bingo game in history with 60,000 players taking part.

• Carl Leffler, a maths professor, worked with Lowe to create the 60,000 bingo cards with no repeating patterns, which apparently drove him insane!

• Bingo has always been associated with charities. In its early stages a C atholic priest approached Lowe and asked him to raise funds for the church.

• The first ever purpose built bingo hall in the UK was Castle Bingo in Canton.

• The National Bingo Game started in 1986. Now over 500 clubs throughout the UK link together to generate the prize fund.

• National Bingo prize money won ahs reached figures of almost £800million

• The first online bingo site in the UK was launched in 2003

• Online bingo participation is approximately 80% female

• 30% of bingo players are under 35 years old

• 96% of bingo players have won at some point whilst playing

• Surveys have revealed that two thirds of all people who play bingo play for fun, not for financial reasons!

Online Bingo vs Land Based Bingo

Obviously there's a difference between online bingo games played on the Internet and land-based bingo played in traditional bingo halls. However, when it comes to the very core of the game, the rules are the same and no matter which version you’re playing, you win the same way. The absolute biggest difference between the two versions of bingo is the question of convenience. For instance, if you feel like a game of bingo, you don’t have to wait for the bingo hall to open. Instead you just turn on your computer and log on to your favorite online bingo site. There you can play bingo any time you want without leaving the comfort of your own home and with the “Auto-daub”-function you don’t even have to worry if you miss a number or two since the numbers on your bingo card is automatically marked.

Since most bingo players, both land-based and online bingo players, are quite social people, socialization is a key concept for many bingo players. In bingo halls the players have the possibility to mingle and meet people from the local geographical area, but as soon as the game starts it's all about concentrating on the game. In online bingo, the situation is a little different. Here the interaction between the players takes place in the chat rooms during the games. These chat rooms are great places to discuss most topics and exchange views about everything.